Why not make booster availability as easy as vaccine availability?

[BigButtons]

Where I am SE England the vaccine rollout was excellent. It was easily accessible and very efficient with loads of local centres.
I have been trying to book my booster and am being asked to now travel over an hour away. I’d they want people to take the booster jabs why are they not making it easier to do so?
Is it the same everywhere else? Even walk in centres are reducing in number. I don’t get it.
I want to get my booster but it’s nigh on impossible to find a space.

@BigButtons

Friends of mine that live in the same small town as me are being offered centres much Closer than I am being offered. It I stupidly randomn.

Have you called 119 (I think!) and asked for an appointment at your chosen centre? Might be worth a shot.

Same here, there is nothing available, the main city hub has closed, our local gp surgeries and pharmacies dont or wont offer it but give out the flu jab. The nearest walk in is in a different county and I am six months post 2nd dose already.

Do you not have vaccine buses where you are?

We're out in the sticks but have had the vaccine bus one day a week for 4 out of the last 6 weeks. Yes the queues have been long, including in the pouring rain, but it's all very quick and efficient. The site that advertises the bus is updated each evening and people are travelling from the other end of the (rather large, rural) district for their jab.

@BigButtons

Friends of mine that live in the same small town as me are being offered centres much Closer than I am being offered. It I stupidly randomn.

Have you tried using a different postcode?

I agree thought that provision is very patchy. No walk in here at all.

Do the buses only offer Astra, we have been told our boosters will be Pfizer where you have to wait 15 minutes afterwards which wouldnt be any good on a mobile bus.

@CactusFlowers

That didn't work for me. When I'd discovered it was offering different sites to me and DP, I put in the postcode for the actual vaccination centre I was booked into, to try and get him an appointment just before or just after mine, so we could go together, and it still gave him a different selection of venues that it wouldn't let me use.

All our walk in centres are 20+ miles away, and we're in a large city with 20+ vaccination sites within 5-10 miles, but none are offering walk ins, not to us anyway, which is slightly annoying, especially for DP as his work can change at short notice, so chances are that he can't keep appointments that are made weeks in advance, but if he could go to a walk in when he finds himself with a day off and nothing much planned.

@CactusFlowers yes a different postcode will be next on my things to try.

Deffo location specific. My in-laws are in the SE & my FIL couldn’t book anywhere until mid-December despite already being past 6 months.

They came to visit us in Yorkshire this weekend & I drove him to one of 4 walk in centres in my town & he got jabbed. Very relieved we had that option. Walk ins are readily available here & several options of nearby location!

But it was the same with the initial vax - we got ours far earlier than my same age family in law & only had to wait 5 weeks between doses. They had the full 12 week wait.

The NHS website wont let you put in your name, and dob with a different postcode

@ajandjjmum

There was a spell a couple of weeks ago where vaccines were in shorter supply, so those we had needed to be kept for bookings. There's now lots more, which means we can do walk-ins again.

However....as walk-ins aren't timed, sometimes the queues get long, and people are less likely to wait. This is bound to become more of an issue in bad weather.

But please, everyone visiting a clinic, remember everyone is doing their best. The vaccinators haven't had a break for 4/5 hours at times, to try and reduce the queues. It's pretty galling to be a volunteer, and still have people moaning endlessly at you. Have to say though that 99% of people are lovely and grateful.

Are bookings prioritised over walk ins? I booked mine for tonight a couple of weeks ago, but I don't want to have to wait in a big queue outside because I've left my big coat in my friend's car

@KittenCatcher

Do the buses only offer Astra, we have been told our boosters will be Pfizer where you have to wait 15 minutes afterwards which wouldnt be any good on a mobile bus.

Nope definitely Pfizer. They had some chairs outside to sit on if you didn't have a car. If you had a car you sat in that and if started to feel funny you beeped your horn or flashed your lights. To be fair the volunteers were lovely, walking up and down the queue offering umbrellas as well as double checking everyone was 6months post their second jab so no-one was wasting their time waiting in the queue

I live 20 mins on the train or 30 mins on the bus to Croydon Town centre so I had my booster at the shopping centre there. You can do walk in but I booked as it's more straightforward as you've already been verified by the system. Dd had her second dose there too (age 17.) I do drive but I prefer getting public transport after a vaccine in case I feel light headed or something. I did have my initial vaccines locally by car though as was more scared of catching it on public transport before I was vaccinated. Back then I got the local invitation faster anyway, but for the booster I was able to book the shopping centre before I got an invitation locally

Dd and I both had pfizer at the shopping centre. There was seating to wait 15 mins.

Are bookings prioritised over walk ins?
I booked mine for tonight a couple of weeks ago, but I don't want to have to wait in a big queue outside because I've left my big coat in my friend's car grin
Yes they were at Croydon Town centre. There was a faster queue, although I still had to wait a while. It depends when you go though as a friend didn't have to wait long

@Ducksareruiningmypatio
At our centre, no they're not - it's literally when you arrive, obviously assuming there is a plentiful supply of vaccine.

It does seem unfair in a way, but people arriving for timed appointments are so varied - I would say a good third are either very early or very late, because of other commitments.

We could try and separate them, but in reality this would take more time and people, and reduce the numbers being vaccinated while all the faffing around went on. Only rarely does it have a notable impact. If we were in a major centre, with lots of space, it could be achieved more easily, although you would still have issues when people don't arrive at the 'correct' time.

The only totally fair solution is 'bookings only' or 'walk ins only', but that would reduce the number of vaccines we are able to distribute each session. Fortunately the majority of people are understanding.

It's pretty galling to be a volunteer, and still have people moaning endlessly at you. Have to say though that 99% of people are lovely and grateful
Yes I'm afraid I did see people arguing with the volunteer at Croydon Town centre.

@KittenCatcher

The NHS website wont let you put in your name, and dob with a different postcode

I was able to put in loads of different postcodes when I booked. Still nothing where I wanted but I could try.

@ajandjjmum do you have anything in place for needles phobias? When I had my first jabs I was taken to the front of the queue once DH had explained (I was in too much of a state). I felt a bit guilty but there's no way I could have waited without getting into more of a state.

It's all a bit of a shambles really, I'm 8 months post vaccination, and I work in social care, today was my third attempt at getting the booster, through work (no facilitation for night shift workers offered from the employer) they were due at 10am today, I turned up at 11, not there, 'rescheduled' for 12.30, just left again because they're not there. Local GP surgery or pharmacies aren't doing them, nearest place I can book an appointment is 30 miles away and will take me a full day to get there and back on public transport.
Yet I'm supposed to be 'priority' so I can protect the people I am working with because they're vulnerable - and should they decide that the booster is included in 'fully vaccinated' my job is at risk too.
Not sure how I can protect the people I work with when I can't get access to the vaccine.

I am 6 months on 8 December and booked last week through the national site. It offered me a range of pharmacies but not the big vaccine hub (which is definitely still operating but mainly seems to be advertising walk ins for teens rather than boosters?). I didn't have a problem finding an appointment about 2 miles away (I live in a city) on the 10th. I got a text today from my GP but they had nothing earlier than the date I booked, and only a handful of dates between now and the end of January.

[quote PinkSparklyPussyCat]@ajandjjmum do you have anything in place for needles phobias? When I had my first jabs I was taken to the front of the queue once DH had explained (I was in too much of a state). I felt a bit guilty but there's no way I could have waited without getting into more of a state.[/quote]
We have a number of people most days who are needle phobic - those who obvious need extra support are either taken to the front of the queue or to a secluded area where they will be vaccinated in private.

Lots of people don't like needles - no-one comes in saying 'I can't wait to have an injection!', but we do our best to help those who are genuinely phobic obviously depending upon this being pointed out to us - if you're really busy you don't have the time to spend with each individual. Often someone before or after the person in the queue will quietly mention their concern to us, and we always allow people to be accompanied if that is their wish.

[quote ajandjjmum]@Ducksareruiningmypatio
At our centre, no they're not - it's literally when you arrive, obviously assuming there is a plentiful supply of vaccine.

It does seem unfair in a way, but people arriving for timed appointments are so varied - I would say a good third are either very early or very late, because of other commitments.

We could try and separate them, but in reality this would take more time and people, and reduce the numbers being vaccinated while all the faffing around went on. Only rarely does it have a notable impact. If we were in a major centre, with lots of space, it could be achieved more easily, although you would still have issues when people don't arrive at the 'correct' time.

The only totally fair solution is 'bookings only' or 'walk ins only', but that would reduce the number of vaccines we are able to distribute each session. Fortunately the majority of people are understanding.[/quote]
Ahh ok, fingers crossed the queue isn't massive due to recent announcements.

My mum worked in a vaccination centre when the first rollout happened and some of the worst patients were senior health care workers pulling "don't you know who I am!" out of the bag when they switched from 3 weeks to 12 weeks

My DH had his second dose in early June and was able to book locally for next month - a 20 minute walk away. I had my second dose later in June and can't get a slot locally at all, and have had to book about 12 miles away for January. However, there are walk ins available locally so once I'm past six months I will try my luck. Problem is: the first day I will be eligible is 3 days before Christmas and I don't fancy feeling grotty as I will now have a vaccine I didn't have before so don't know how I will react.

Are bookings prioritised over walk ins they are at my nearest one, but it appears to vary according to centre

Just trying to book my booster again, am number 2034 in the queue